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She didn't threaten anyone. She said "If I could, I would take this ****ing ball down your ****ing throat." That's not a threat. It's a stupid thing to say but it's not a threat.
Source: Serena Williams fined, faces possible suspension for tirade
Uh.... you saying its not a threat because she specified "if I could.."? So if I came at you with a bat and said, "If I could, I'd beat the **** out of you", you'd laugh it off? And that's also just one line.. she later (or earlier) actually did threaten the same thing with "I swear to god I will.....".
Bottom line - botched call or not, she lost her temper. And the lost point was due to the fact that she had a conduct violation earlier (kinda like getting a red card because you already got a yellow). As for the fine, I'm sure that's not the first time someone got fined. But I do think that the media played this out much more. I'm not sure if Tennis announces fine (I guess so since they did here) - but not all sports do. Tiger Woods gets fined all the time for his language. But the PGA does not make those decisions public.
I definitely agree that this is no worse than Connors or McEnroe in their day... but in their day, there were also no Tweeter, Internet etc..... If you didn't catch it on TV, you weren't able to bring it up on youtube, MSNBC etc. So I'd blame the media more than I blame the USTA. Also, I think the fact that this came from a female also made it a bigger issue. Case in point, Federer basically told off the umpire in the final (and that was very clear on network TV)... and there wasn't any media blitz over it.
Tennis SHOULD be different than those sports though.
She acted like a @*$&@$&* and I personally think she should be suspended from playing professionally for at least a year, if not more.
I know Johnny Mac was a jerk sometimes, but I don't ever think he was this bad. He did break a few racquet's as well, but he is more famous for "you can't be serious", than he is for threatening to shove balls into body orifices.
Actually, there is a clip of John Mac slamming his raquet into some glass water pitchers or something similar, leaving shattered glass all over the court.
He has had so many bad outbursts, I just don't think they can be compared.
Tantrums are wrong no matter what though.
Here is a small clip of it - The story is that glass was sprayed on spectators in the first 2 rows, including the King of Sweden.
Watching her post match interview, she revealed herself as the trash that she is, even beyond that evidenced by her on-court behavior. Her speech is littered with "like" and "ya' know" etc. She's uneducated and low class. She just happens to play tennis well. My opinion of her, watching that interview, has dropped even further.
I agree with you, and would be glad to give my opinion, except that the hypersensitive types here would give me points if I criticized the precious ---- and ------.
Why do I think that if it were a skinny white girl this wouldn't be anywhere near as big a deal? A deal, yes, but no one would be calling for blood.
Why are you trying to make this about race?! And YES, if Maria acted like that, I would be JUST as upset.
This is NOT a race issue, it's a class/tack/decorum/professionalism issue.
I do NOT want a raving crazy potentially dangerous woman as a role model for young tennis players, especially my daughter.
Up until this point, we LOVED Serena; and watched as many of her matches as we could; but now, I don't want her to thing that type of thing is permissible on the court, much less off the court.
I have made sure she has seen the clip of Serena, and we took it as a chance to discuss poor sportsmanship and bad behavior, and she (DD) was very upset that one of her fav players acted like a fool. So in a way, I am glad that Serena acted like that, it was a good learning tool; but OTOH I am saddeded that she felt she had to stoop to that behavior.
Why are you trying to make this about race?! And YES, if Maria acted like that, I would be JUST as upset.
Read the posts. Of course it's about race. And I don't believe you.
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This is NOT a race issue, it's a class/tack/decorum/professionalism issue.
And, as has been pointed out before, plenty of other athletes act similarly and there isn't the call for blood that this brought. She was wrong, no one denies it, but the response is ridiculous.
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I do NOT want a raving crazy potentially dangerous woman as a role model for young tennis players, especially my daughter.
1. Don't be ridiculous. She isn't crazy or potentially dangerous. Stop at "raving" because that's all it was.
2. She's a professional athlete. Her job is to play tennis, not to be your daughter's role model.
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Up until this point, we LOVED Serena; and watched as many of her matches as we could; but now, I don't want her to thing that type of thing is permissible on the court, much less off the court.
If your daughter suddenly thinks that that sort of behavior is permissible because Serena Williams act that way once (for which, might I point out, she apologized and was punished), you aren't doing a very good job of teaching her values.
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I have made sure she has seen the clip of Serena, and we took it as a chance to discuss poor sportsmanship and bad behavior, and she (DD) was very upset that one of her fav players acted like a fool. So in a way, I am glad that Serena acted like that, it was a good learning tool; but OTOH I am saddeded that she felt she had to stoop to that behavior.
See what I mean?
Get over it. It isn't about you or your daughter. Don't take it personally.
First, Serena's outburst was wrong, no question about it. But she's been on the tour, what, 10 years now? And I can't remember any other incidents where she's misbehaved. Even when she got screwed in that Capriatti match a few years ago, she maintained her composure as I recall. Maybe she should be cut just a little bit of slack?
Those of us who play tennis know that it's a sport that often tests your temper. If things aren't going well, you're likely to be on edge, as was the case with Serena. The linesperson waiting until she was 2 points away from losing the match to call a foot fault for the first time would have caused most players to feel the same way as Serena did at that point--she just made the mistake of losing control and expressing it.
Again, Serena is completely to blame here, not the linesperson. But let's not overreact. Sheesh.
Uh.... you saying its not a threat because she specified "if I could.."? So if I came at you with a bat and said, "If I could, I'd beat the **** out of you", you'd laugh it off? And that's also just one line.. she later (or earlier) actually did threaten the same thing with "I swear to god I will.....".
Yeah, I'm saying it isn't a threat. It is an expression of frustrations and anger. She didn't "go at" the line judge with anything except her words. She made no threatening actions with her racket let alone a bat or say anything about beating the crap out out of anyone but hey, why not take it to a higher level just for the hell of it, eh?
Your post is a perfect example of making more of it than it is.
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